News & Events

After a six-year hiatus, artist Don Wonderling returns to Penn State New Kensington in July to exhibit his paintings in the campus Art Gallery.

Wonderling's 50-piece show, "Farm Scenes," runs through the end of August. Many of the works are for sale at prices ranging from $50 ("Setting Sun and "Lilly Pads") to $1,500 ("Weathered Barn" and "On Bonniebrook Road").

The artist favors impressionistic and expressionistic styles of painting, and his favorite motifs are woodlands and farmlands in the region. He uses color and value contrasts to convey the emotional impact that he strives to get in his paintings.

Painting on both masonite and canvas, Wonderling uses acrylic paints. The Buffalo Township resident likes the quick-drying quality of acrylics because it fits his painting style and emotional make-up. He experiments as he paints, and acrylics allow him to repaint areas that do not match with his original concept.

A veteran of one-man shows throughout western Pennsylvania, Wonderling last exhibited at the campus in 2005. His show, "Tractors and Such" featured farms, barns, trees and fields and, of course, tractors.

Wonderling, who holds a doctorate in education from the University of Pittsburgh, retired in 2005 after thirty years as an educator in the Pennsylvania public school system. He taught business education at Deer Lakes High School before moving on to the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind to teach blind adults and children. Later, he was appointed principal at the School for Blind Children in Pittsburgh.

Although he has never studied art, Wonderling has been entering art competitions since 1982, winning numerous ribbons and awards. Many of his paintings hang in private residences.

The exhibit is free to the public. The gallery is open weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and weekends, noon to 5:00 p.m.

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